Hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Counselling

Hypnotherapy is often referred to as the fast track therapy as it gets you the results you want in the shortest time. Hypnotherapy harnesses the power of your subconscious mind to eliminate limiting beliefs and obstacles to success. It is used successfully to stop habits like smoking, improve your confidence, reduce stress and anxiety, improve health, relieve pain or achieve a personal goal. Counselling and psychotherapy provide a supportive environment which allows you to go at your own pace, as you explore your inner world and find your own solutions. Used together they are a powerful tool to successfully make lasting changes that improve your quality of life.

Hypnotherapy in a nutshell

Thoughts produce feelings which are transmitted to the body, thus creating a physical experience and a connected belief in the mind, which when repeated over time form a habit, characteristic or attitude. Our experiences, attitudes and beliefs directly influence our behaviour every day, contributing to our success or failure.

Heather Greer is a qualified and experienced Clinical hypnotherapist and counsellor who will help you make those lasting changes you desire to live your life to its fullest potential.

Hypnotherapy and NLP can help you with:-

Addictions, habits & compulsions
Quit smoking
Stress, anxiety and depression
Confidence
Weight loss
Pain managementS
Cancer care
Natural fertility
Natural birthing
Personal growth and development
Hypnotherapy FAQ

street sign, success

Quit Smoking

Thinking of giving up smoking?
Would you like to know the best and easiest method for quitting?

Women breaking Cigarette

Research has shown that when using multiple strategies which include Clinical Hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) you are 10 times more likely to quit, and remain a non-smoker. The reason why we're so successful is because this course is different. We recognise that each person’s quitting journey is unique; therefore we employ multiple strategies in powerful combinations to give you a much higher rate of success than hypnosis alone. We simultaneously retrain both the conscious mind using Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and the subconscious parts of your mind with Clinical Hypnotherapy.
Using willpower alone can be a struggle because deep in the subconscious mind there’s a part that may be unwilling to give up. Will-power is a conscious act, but the underlining need to smoke is held as a subconscious belief. As long as this subconscious belief persists, giving up smoking will be harder than it needs to be.

In this Quit Smoking course uses the most powerful research based techniques available to ensure you get the best chance to quit you will ever receive.

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You can probably imagine what your life will be like when you quit smoking…

  • The money you'll save on each pack of cigarettes (1 pack per day = $98 per week, $425 per month or over $5,000 per year).
  • The years you'll add to your life as your health risks decrease.
  • The freedom you feel from releasing the restrictions of the nicotine addiction.
  • The rush of increased natural energy and good health as you notice you feel better, and younger than you have in years.
  • The powerful sense of accomplishment at achieving a life-changing goal.
  • The satisfaction of being a great role model ...the person you want to be.

'Hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest ever scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit.' - New Scientist v136

You can choose to quit using one to one hypnotherapy or a four week small group course.

This Quit Smoking course uses the most powerful research based techniques available to ensure you get the best chance to quit you will ever receive.
The reason why we're so successful at helping clients to permanently stop smoking is because we simultaneously retrain both the conscious mind with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and the subconscious parts of your mind with Hypnotherapy.

The reason we are so successful is because during the sessions we will look at all your smoking triggers and make sure you have the coping mechanisms, motivation and determination to become a non-smoker.

Quit Smoking Course

For two hours a week over four weeks you will receive professional support taking you through a personal process to quit smoking for life. Starting with strategies to increase motivation, help you set personal goals, and assist in planning your path to quitting. We offer a range of supportive measures to help you through any withdrawal symptoms or cravings, which only last a few days. We utilise the best research based methods for quitting, and ensure you are taught a range of skills. See timetable for dates. (link here)

Individual sessions offer a more private experience. One on one session will be individualised and uses tailor made hypnosis that is just written for you (often called ‘designer hypnosis’. This can be very powerful as you are less likely to reject the information, as it becomes implanted in your subconscious mind.

The benefits of quitting

boy hold no smoking sign

After one day of not smoking, you’ve got an extra $14 in your pocket. You could treat yourself to a cafe lunch or buy a couple of your favourite magazines.

The health benefits of not smoking for one day include:

  • Most of the nicotine is cleared from your body.
  • Your blood pressure and heart rate drop towards normal levels.

After two days you’ve saved $28. You could go to the movies, go to the footy or cricket, or treat yourself to a nice bottle of wine.

The health benefits of not smoking for two days include:

  • You notice that your skin, hair and breath smell fresher.
  • Less carbon monoxide in your system means your lungs are more efficient.

After one week you’ve got an extra $98 in your pocket. You could have a facial, take someone to dinner, go to a gig, or buy a few books, CDs or DVDs.

The health benefits of not smoking for one week include:

  • The small hair-like structures that clean your lungs, called cilia, are starting to work again. Accumulated phlegm from smoking will loosen and you may start to cough it up.
  • You will have higher blood levels of protective antioxidants, such as Vitamin C.

After one month you’ve saved $425. You could go away for a weekend, cover your monthly petrol costs, or treat yourself to some new clothes.

The health benefits of not smoking for one month include:

  • Your lungs are working more efficiently.
  • Exercising is easier.
  • Your immune system is starting to recover.
broken cigarette

After three to six months you’ve saved over $1,200. This is enough for a new computer or a plasma TV. After six months, you’ve got $2,500 to spend. You could take your family for a holiday in Queensland or buy a return ticket to London or the United States.

The health benefits of not smoking for three to six months include:

  • You don’t cough and wheeze as much anymore. Your lung function has continued to improve.
  • Blood flow to your extremities, like fingers and toes, improves.
  • Your body is better at healing cuts and wounds.
  • You may feel less stressed or in a better mood than when you were smoking.

After one year you’ve saved $5,100. This is enough for an around-the-world plane ticket, some new furniture, or a lump sum off your mortgage.

The health benefits of not smoking for one year include:

  • Your increased risk of premature death from heart attack is halved.
  • Your blood pressure returns to normal.

If you quit smoking, you’ll save money in many other ways, including:

  • You’re less likely to suffer from colds, the flu or other respiratory infections, which means fewer trips to the doctor, less money spent on medications and fewer sick days.
  • You won’t need so many visits to the dentist to have your teeth professionally cleaned.
  • You don’t have to spend as much time and money on maintaining the house. For example, smoking inside your home discolours paint and wallpaper.
  • You cut down on your cleaning bills because clothes, furniture upholstery and the interior of your car no longer stink of cigarette smoke.
  • The risk of fire in your home is lower.

The future health and financial benefits of quitting continue as the years go by.

  • Your chances of conceiving a baby improve. Smoking can cause fertility problems, such as impotence in men and a lower chance of conceiving in women. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have a miscarriage.
  • Over time, your senses of smell and taste will slowly improve.
  • Within two to five years, your risk of stroke is substantially reduced. You’ve also saved between $10,000 and $25,000.
  • After 10 years, your risk of lung cancer is less than half that of a continuing smoker and continues to decline (provided the disease is not already present). You’ve also saved over $51,000.
  • After 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease is nearly the same as a lifetime non-smoker. You’ve also saved over $76,000.
  • Quitting smoking benefits men and women of all ages and improves health in general.

Confidence

Hypnosis is a great way to retrain your mind to let go of the old negative and self defeating thoughts. As you repeat the beliefs you want hey will become natural over time. Self talk is the way you talk to yourself and the loop of thoughts that get stuck in your head. Many people don’t realize how many negative thoughts go through their head constantly. If you can question your negative thoughts and beliefs, you can choose to let them go and replace them with more positive ones.

Weight loss

So how can hypnosis help you lose weight?
Healthy weight loss comes from learning how to listen to your body, being guided by its signals, and by supporting that at a deeper level of the mind where our feelings and responses are being organized. Hypnosis provides us with a tool to access this part of our mind, and make changes at that level. Hypnotherapy is the application of hypnosis techniques towards a therapeutic outcome, such as helping you to change your eating habits and your emotional patterns of behaviour.
The goal is not to see how quickly you can shed a few kilos; your goal is to create balance and harmony. This balance brings to you a guidance system, and as you follow this guidance your eating patterns and emotional habits arrange themselves according to what you want them to be. A sense of enjoyment and satisfaction within this process automatically leads to a continuation of this process. In this way your body gradually lets go of those extra kilos naturally, and allows you to enjoy being at your ideal weight permanently, without the need for constant struggle. This is a much happier and a much more lasting outcome.
Hypnotherapy is a gentle and natural way of working to bring our actions in line with our minds. We take into account things such as:

  • Emotional eating – such as eating for comfort, or when you are bored
  • Habitual eating – eating when you’re not hungry
  • Specific foods which are a “problem”
  • Social eating – celebrating with food, rewarding yourself with food, etc.

Addictions, habits, compulsions

I believe that everybody has all the resources required to change any behaviour they need to (normally buried within them). Finding those resources and maintaining them may be very challenging and can appear nigh on impossible, especially if huge efforts have already been made without success. Such unsuccessful efforts may have been tried without these essential inner resources being brought to bear. Efforts might also fail because of the absence of the necessary endurance required, something so often made much easier by having a professional on board. After all, progress can be difficult to see when you are fighting on your own and 'giving in' could bring all those familiar rewards back into your life.

The way forward

Hypnotherapy can clearly show you 1) the benefits of change, 2) the pleasure involved in watching those changes happen, 3) a multitude of methods to combat every single obstacle in your way and all potential threats that might undermine your success, 4) it can bring to the fore positive energy and strengths you didn't believe you had in you, and 5) offer you a clear view into the habit-free future already waiting for you

Simple & Complex Habits

Simpler habits such as e.g., bed wetting, shynesss & self-consciousness, blushing, bruxism (tooth grinding), compulsive shopping & spending, hair pulling, thumb sucking, nail biting, picking, tics... etc., can be tackled with Hypnotherapy and NLP alone; while more complex problems such as e.g., eating disorders / issues, drug addiction, gambling, and self-harm generally involve a larger breakdown of their own particular symptoms, issues and solutions. When well-developed, these might need a range of further specific techniques on top.

Whatever your 'habit' though Hypnotherapy can help to weaken it, strengthen you, forge a better path, release you from it's grasp, and give you the control back.

Pain management

Hypnosis has been used successfully in the treatment of all kinds of painful conditions, wether acute or chronic. Whether the pain is as a result from surgery, injury, illness or disease, hypnosis can be of benefit.
To reduce the discomfort to a manageable level or even to eliminate it altogether is one of the most meaningful applications of clinical hypnosis which allows the person to become more comfortable and in control in the management of their own pain.
A person is capable of using his or her mind to change the perception of the discomfort and this ability is amplified with hypnosis. With training, you can learn the techniques for creating analgesia or anaesthesia. Using and practicing these skills can help increased management and relief from pain.
The fact that pain levels can be altered through hypnosis does not indicate that the person's suffering is just psychological. Instead, it indicates that our minds have the power to influence the experience of our bodies.

What is pain?
Although pain is something we all experience at some stage in our lives, it can vary greatly from a minor experience to complete loss of independence. How we respond to the discomfort can be managed by hypnotherapy. Hypnosis has been well proven and documented to be an effective tool in the management of pain and pain perception.
Pain management is about changing what happens between reception and perception and hypnosis can bring about the perceptual and sensory changes to help alleviate the discomfort being experienced.

Psychological factors play a major role in the way an individual will tolerate, describe and cope with pain. It can often lead to anxiety and the two may become inseparable.

Psychological factors

Psychological factors that can influence our experience of pain (and lower the threshold) are:

  • Interpretation – how the pain is perceived
  • Fear
  • Tension
  • Low Mood – the person may be unhappy or depressed and worried about the pain and their lack of ability to control it. There can be frustration in the way that the pain limits them and the possibility of having no medical solution available to them.
  • Learning – past encounters with pain can influence how we respond to that pain in the future.
  • Thoughts – worries about what the pain represents – whether it means illness or injury – and the emotional effect it has on their lives
  • Belief – the future holds any further pain, losses or remoteness

How clinical hypnosis can help

It is important to recognise that pain is a warning signal.  It's the body's way of communicating that something has changed.  Appropriate medical evaluation must be the first step before hypnosis is applied.  Once pain has been diagnosed by a doctor then hypnotherapy can commence.

When we perceive pain, whether it be a painful emotional situation or a painful physical state, we tend to realise our expectation of pain.  Therefore our perceptions of the discomfort and suffering are valuable in changing the pain sensations. 

Natural Fertility

How stress affects conception
When we are under stress, our body releases hormones including adrenaline and cortisol as if we were truly in danger and in need of the fight or flight response. A continued flush of stress hormones tells our body “this is not a safe time to create a baby”. Cortisol has a direct impact on our reproductive system; if the stress response is activated often the body has little time to return to normal, resulting in continued and prolonged levels of cortisol associated with chronic stress. Chronic stress has been shown to:

  • Impair cognitive function
  • Suppress thyroid function
  • Cause blood sugar level imbalances
  • Decrees bone density
  • Increase blood pressure
  • Suppress immunity and inflammatory response
  • Suppress or delay ovulation
  • Interfere with implantation of fertilised ovum
  • Reduce sperm count

Hypnosis, NLP and counselling will support you and your partner through your journey into parenthood and assist you to reduce your stress levels. Hypnosis can help you remove blockages and beliefs that hold you back. What the mind can perceive the body believes. Using NLP techniques that help you move towards your goal of parenthood. Relaxation and visualisation will assist with physical and emotional problems which stop you conceiving, and carrying and birthing a healthy baby.

Natural Birthing

Hypnotherapy can assist you to have a natural birth by harnessing the power of your mind. Learn to eliminate the fear-tension-pain syndrome, a downward spiral that often leads to medical complications and intervention. Using hypnotherapy will help you feel more confident and calmer as you prepare yourself for the best possible birth experience. We will teach you birthing skills and hypnosis to help you feel more confident, empowered and equipped for birth. You will learn breathing techniques and self hypnosis skills to ensure you feel calm and confident through the birthing process. Our women report how they felt in control, centred and calm during their labour. Research shows hypnotherapy increases the possibility of a natural drug free, uncomplicated natural birth, that’s why hypnotherapy is endorsed by obstetricians and midwives worldwide. You too can feel the joy and fulfilment of a successful birth, which will speed your recovery and assist with bonding. Prepare yourself now by discussing your options and desires for a natural easy birth.

Cancer Care

Living with a Cancer diagnosis is stressful whether you are in the treatment phase; in recovery or have been successfully cured. Counselling will help patients and carers cope with what is happening, and hypnosis will teach relaxation and visualisation skills for stress reduction and pain management. Mindfulness based core process psychotherapy uses awareness of your mind to connect with your body in a new way, to assist you through the process. Hypnotherapy visualisation and relaxation can assist you with fear and anxiety, sleep problems, treatment compliance, speed recovery from procedures or surgery, and whole body healing. Help yourself to move forward and start living the life you want now.

Stress, anxiety and health issues

Experts agree that many western health problems are related to stress. By reducing stress you can improve sleep, lower blood pressure, increase energy, balance and stabilise the body and mind to improve chronic health issues. Clinical Hypnotherapy is supported by the medical profession to offer a gentle yet powerful solution to improve your health and wellbeing. Learn skills to reduce and manage stress for long term health improvement.

Personal growth and development

Do you want more confidence, greater understanding and awareness? Find out more about yourself to improve your life, achieve goals, be more successful and live the life you want. Discover the root cause or underlying issues that limit your success in a supportive environment. Remove obstacles to fulfilling your desires and living the life you dream of. Using a step by step approach to improve your life, so you feel happier, more confident and empowered to live your life’s purpose now and long into the future.

FAQ

WHAT IS HYPNOTHERAPY?
Hypnosis is natural state of mind. Everyone has experienced hypnosis. For instance, you may be watching TV perhaps a program you have seen many times and you find yourself very engrossed in it. Daydreaming is also a hypnotic state. In this state our minds are more open so therapy becomes more effective.

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE HYPNOTIZED?
Hypnosis is a very pleasant feeling of complete physical and mental relaxation. It is similar to that moment between knowing you are awake and going into the sleep state. You certainly will not be asleep or unconscious; you never lose awareness during hypnosis. When you are hypnotized, you continue to be aware of your surroundings.

IS HYPNOTHERAPY SAFE?
Hypnosis is safe when a competent and qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist practices it. Check if your therapist is registered with a national association. Your therapist will take a comprehensive assessment as some psychological and psychiatric complaints are incompatible with hypnotherapy techniques.

DO PEOPLE HAVE TROUBLE COMING OUT OF HYPNOSIS?
A person may choose to stay in hypnosis after an experienced hypnotist asks them to come out of it. The reason being, it is such a relaxed feeling of enjoyment, they prefer to stay there awhile longer. The person may go to sleep, and awakes as usual. In self-hypnosis you have complete control, and set your own time limit. There has never been a documented case of someone unable to come out of hypnosis.

HOW DOES HYPNOTHERAPY WORK?
Our mind modulates the biochemical functions within the cells of all the major organ systems and tissues of the body via the autonomic nervous system.

Most of us are familiar with the mind triggering a physiological response such as hearing a police siren when driving slightly too fast, or mistaking a stick for a snake. Perhaps you have a fear or phobia which can be triggered by a memory or thought.
This is how it works- our emotional brain (limbic system) records and stores every experience from the womb through to adulthood either consciously or subconsciously. Family patterns and life experience positive or negative affect how we think, feel and respond now. Emotional responses are transmitted to the hypothalamus via the limbic system. The hypothalamus then mediates the signals to the autonomic nervous system via biochemical and electrical messages which are released into the bloodstream and transmitted to the body.
Mind body interactions are circular in nature-each element affecting the other in both directions. The lower brain stem control centres, which serve as relay stations of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems regulate our responses (fight or flight). This network of communication can increase blood pressure, control body temperature, regulate blood flow, increase or decrease salivation and gastrointestinal activity, cause bladder emptying and sexual orgasm. Therefore all organs can respond psychosomatically. Neuron pathways are created in the brain determined by emotional responses to life events and we develop learned patterns of behaviour which we continually re enact. These patterns are held in memory; firmly held patterns create habits, and beliefs.

Yet all firmly held beliefs where once a new idea, and doubtable. Therefore all neuron pathways can be changed. Change your mind and change your bodily response.
In a nutshell:
Thoughts produce feelings which create a belief in the mind, which when repeated forms a habit or  attitude, this directly influences our behaviour contributing to our success or failure.

WHO CAN BE HYPNOTIZED?
Everyone can be hypnotized provided that they want to be. As long as they have an open mind, reasonable intelligence and is able to concentrate. Even people with short attention spans can be hypnotized but the procedure requires special skills on the part of the hypnotist.

WHAT IS SELF-HYPNOSIS?
Techniques exist by which one can attain a state of self hypnosis and gain complete relaxation under the most stressful conditions. In this state the subconscious mind is open to therapeutic suggestions.

WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND?
The conscious mind, the mind you are conscious of, is your "ME". It is the critical part of your mind. The subconscious mind is the one that directs your conduct through the habits and emotional desires acquired from the influences of your environment, before you were old enough to reject harmful ideas and concepts.

WHAT IS AUTO SUGGESTION?
Through proper use of auto suggestion you reprogram the subconscious mind to make decisions favourable to your welfare. The new suggestions help in overcoming unwanted habits, a lack of concentration and any other unhealthy attitudes that doom you to failure.

DOES HYPNOSIS WEAKEN THE WILL?
No. Self hypnosis strengthens the mind and the will.

CAN A PERSON BE HYPNOTIZED AGAINST THEIR WILL?
No one is hypnotized against their will. The hypnotherapist merely assists the subject, to hypnotize himself.

WHAT CAN SELF-HYPNOSIS DO FOR ME?
Anything you want it to! Instant learning and photographic memory systems are based on self-hypnosis. Champions in various sports use it to improve their game concentration. You can now learn to overcome undesirable habits, such as smoking, over-eating or drinking with self-hypnosis. You regain self confidence. You now know that success is within easy reach, and erasing harmful emotions leads to a happier and healthier life.

HOW DOES SELF-HYPNOSIS (OR LISTENING TO A RECODING) DIFFER FROM HYPNOTISM BY A TRAINED CLINICAL HYPNOTIST?
In self-hypnosis YOU choose your own time limits, realizing that you have a choice and can now choose your area for self improvement. Using a hypnotist to train you in self hypnosis is of great benefit as it speeds up the retraining process. Recordings can be useful to supplement a clinical hypnotherapy session however unless personalised they rarely fit the client’s needs and frequently fail.

WILL YOU MAKE ME DANCE LIKE A CHICKEN?
Clinical Hypnosis as used by Doctor’s psychologists and psychotherapists is a therapeutic healing or investigative process. The client's welfare is the sole focus of the procedure and the work is geared towards helping the client. Stage hypnosis bears no resemblance to clinical hypnotherapy. It is a show where people perform acts that are used to entertain an audience.

WILL I REMEMBER ANYTHING AFTER THE SESSION IS OVER?
You may remember everything or just some things. Usually, you will remember only what you are ready to remember. You may be asked to describe images or sensations or sounds as they come to you. You will be encouraged to avoid explaining or making any sense out of these impressions.
Sometimes after the session is over and in the days to come, images or memories will surface spontaneously to your awareness.

WHAT IF I DO NOT COME OUT OF HYPNOSIS?
Everyone comes out of hypnosis. Remember that you went into hypnosis willingly. So, just as you decided to go into hypnosis, by the same token, you will decide to come out of it. There are, on few occasions, some people who enjoy it so much that they resist coming out. But all experienced and well-trained hypnotists have knowledge of many different ways to bring the person around. Since the hypnotist keeps the person under hypnosis, with the person’s realization that the hypnotist’s voice is no longer heard, the person will return to the present. I have been asked: what happens if anything happens to me during this period? After a while, the client will drift off into a natural sleep and reawaken.

CAN I BRING A FRIEND WITH ME?
Yes, you can bring anyone with you if you need the reassurance and if that makes you comfortable. However, you need to understand that, should your therapist suggest that it is best for you to be alone, you must respect his/her recommendation and have him/her clarify that decision. Keep in mind that you are in control and feel free to have your request heard.

WHAT IF I CAN NOT GO DEEPLY ENOUGH?
A light hypnotic state may be sufficient to accomplish the goals of the session. Most people can achieve a trance deep enough to allow for the process.

HOW DOES HYPNOSIS DIFFER FROM SLEEP, MEDITATION OR GUIDED IMAGERY?
Hypnosis is best described as an altered state of consciousness, a changed state of awareness, concentration and perception. During the experience of hypnosis, the person remains in complete control and should they ever feel uncomfortable because of the experience, they can always reopen their eyes and terminate the intervention. Everyone at some point or another has experienced hypnosis. One experiences hypnosis when one misses an exit while driving or when one is so engrossed watching TV or reading a book that even a person talking will nor distract one from one’s activities.
Although some hypnotists use the word sleep as a suggestion to enter deep relaxation, hypnosis is not sleep. Sleep is defined as a "natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored." During sleep, the individual is not aware of what is happening.
Meditation involves focusing one’s thoughts, engaging oneself in inner contemplation or reflection. Meditation techniques vary, but what most of them have in common is the relief of suffering and the promotion of healing.

It is generally known that there are four different kinds of meditation. One is based on body control in order to unite body and mind as in Yoga. A second technique of meditation is based on control of the mind and requires concentration, contemplation and visualization. Concentration is accomplished by focusing on an object. Contemplation is achieved through continuous repetition of a word or a syllable. A third approach to meditation is based on letting go of the body, using techniques to achieve relaxation of muscle tensions. The fourth meditative technique focuses on letting go of the mind. The mind remains open to whatever enters it thus obtaining insight.
There is a fine line between meditation and hypnosis. Meditation and self-hypnosis can be induced in similar ways. Both techniques may begin by the person being asked to stare at a certain point, breathe in a prescribed way or listen to chants or rhythms. Meditation has been most effective in changing behaviour.

Guided Imagery is the use of mental images to bring about changes usually related to health problems.

All the above techniques share relaxation as part of the procedure, but that is where the similarities end.